Transfer deadline day was unusually quiet in north London as both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur failed to sign players they needed - in both cases a striker.

While unclear what effort Arsenal made, Tottenham's pursuit of Saido Berahino was well documented only for West Bromwich Albion to stand firm and refuse to sell.

Both clubs are somewhat dependent on key strikers Olivier Giroud and Harry Kane staying fit, even if neither are to really hit form so far this season.

With months ahead until the transfer window re-opens, there is a question to be asked as to which club will regret the decision the most?

Arsenal's options

Olivier Giroud can frustrate and delight fans in equal measure, but the club came through the worst case scenario last season while he missed two months of the season early on with injury.

Arsenal negotiated that period successfully, but to do so again they would have needed Danny Welbeck back to fitness, yet as the club website confirmed yesterday he has been ruled out for several months. It should also be noted that the Gunners are looking not to replicate their third place finish from last season, but instead to win the league.

To do this they appear light already, not withstanding injuries, and Theo Walcott has not shown in his early displays this season that he can be the answer.

More competition is needed up front to challenge Olivier Giroud, and given they have not scored in either of their home games this season so far, their decision not to add a forward is likely to hinder their main goal.

The decision not to buy, if proven unsuccessful will cause a backlash in manager Arsene Wenger's direction, with fans frustrated already with his prudent approach.

Tottenham's options

While Wenger cops the flak for Arsenal's reluctance to spend, Mauricio Pochettino is not the target of Tottenham fan discontent, instead it is chairman Daniel Levy who bears the brunt of criticism.

Tottenham are relying on Harry Kane rediscovering his golden touch from last season, but he is so far goalless after four games.

Spurs did sign Clinton N'Jie and Heung-Min Son, two wide players who both have the ability to play in a more central forward role, and they will be expected to chip in with goals.

If Christian Eriksen can start finding the net again and Nacer Chadli also reaches double figures for the season season in succession, Spurs will be heading in the right direction - but their transfer activity is not ideal and makes it doubtful whether they will be able to move forward and crack the top four this time around.

If they got desperate then calling Emmanuel Adebayor out of the reserves could have been an option - but after leaving him out of both their Premier League and Europa League squads this possibility appears to have been firmly ruled out.

Dan Coombs

Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.
As a trained journalist he has met famous faces from Mr T to Boris Johnson. He once featured in an England World Cup music video too, but it did not make the charts.
He grew up wanting to be a Formula 1 driver, but it looks like this dream has passed him by. Instead, he hopes you enjoy reading his writing on our site, as we seek to debate the day's sporting hot topics.